


Unnecessary Physical Contact

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: 3+1 fic, Based on a Tumblr Post, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, sort of, uncomfortable social interactions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-09-29 21:47:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10145117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: Kara never understood the Earth custom of complete strangers pressuring you into hugging themOr: Three times Kara is cornered by random guys and rescued by people who love her, and one time she gets out of it on her own





	

**Author's Note:**

> Last week I found this post on Tumblr http://asagi-s-garden.tumblr.com/post/157755316588/oxfordcommaforever-han-syolo-shot-first and just... _oh my God_ **this** , I felt the need to write about it to vent my feelings about being a girl confronted by this and not quite knowing how to get out of it and I decided, welp, might as well finally dip my toes into Supergirl writing since I've been meaning to since Christmas... I thought this was the best opportunity, I have other Supergirl fics I'm working on, one that includes SuperCorp pining and one that includes Clark smelling like cookies for charity, but those are both considerably longer so I sort of wanted to test the waters with this short one first to see if it's even received well so ... hello Supergirl fandom, please like me

**I.**

The first time Kara Danvers learned of Earth's strange attitude about entitlement to physical contact, it was when she was thirteen

At Avery Carlson's fourteenth birthday party, where she was, for the most part, still trying to adjust to Earth customs

Given that, she was mostly outcasted from the other kids, partly out of shyness, and partly out of the knowledge that she was only there because Avery's mother insisted she invite _all_ of the kids in her class

Kara wasn't there because Avery liked her, it was by force

So she hadn't really thought much of it when she was greeted by one of the adults

"So you're one of Avery's little freinds huh?"

And .. she wasn't really sure how to answer that, when she looked up at the older man and saw the polite look on his face...

Technically she probably WASN'T considered one of Avery's freinds, considering that she was only here because Avery _had_ to invite her, but she wasn't sure if there was a socially appropriate way of saying that

"Oh um... yeah, I.. I guess,"

Alex DID tell her it wasn't so bad to tell a little white lie if it was for a good reason...

This counted as a good reason right?

"Well I'm Avery's uncle Gordon, it's so nice to meet you, what's your name?"

"Kara," she replied politely, giving a small, anxious smile

"It's nice to meet you Kara, I don't think I saw you at Avery's last party, are you new here?"

"Yeah actually, I've only been here about a year... at.. at Avery's school- my school- this... this school, here, in.. in National City,"

She had to get better at this "Don't expose I'm not from Earth" thing...

"Are you adjusting well?"

"I... guess so, I mean.. it's a little rough but it could be worse,"

"I'm sure you'll get the hang of it, how's school going?"

"Um.. fine... I guess?"

She felt like she was just recycling the same answers but she couldn't help it

She felt even more awkward than usual and didn't quite know what to say or how to answer these questions, partly because she was still learning Earth customs, but partly because... well... she was uncomfortable

She didn't know if it was normal on Earth to have these kinds of stilted conversations with adults she didn't know but she didn't like it, it just felt... off....

Luckily she was saved soon enough by Alex's voice cutting through the noise of the party, shouting that it was time to cut the cake

"O-Oh um, I'd better get going, since.. since they're doing the cake thing.. over there... with.. with the cake..."

"Oh ofcourse, I'll see you later then, how about a hug before you go?"

A hug?

But... Kara didn't know him...?

Was this a common Earth thing?

Did people just ask for hugs from strangers?

She had never dealt with that before, but she wasn't comfortable with it

She didn't know Avery's uncle, not really, and she just felt kind of ... off about it

"Umm..."

"Kara! Didn't you hear me?"

Before she could even turn around, Alex had an arm around her, steering her away and towards the table full of party-goers and calling a short goodbye to the man behind them

"Thanks," Kara said, breathing out a sigh of releif as Alex tightened her grip around her sister's arm

"Yeah, no problem, just.. remind me later to talk to you about how to get out of situations like that,"

She gave a shakey nod, and for the rest of the party, didn't leave Alex's side

 

**II.**

The problem is, even though Alex had tried to tell her how to get out of uncomfortable situations like that, Kara had never quite been able to put it into practice

She had always been too shy when it came to doing anything even potentially perceived as rude, no matter how many times Alex tried to tell her that it was perfectly within her rights to say no, walk away, or in any other way avoid physical contact that she wasn't comfortable with, she just couldn't manage to .. well... do it...

She always ended up frozen and shell-shocked and it felt like her brain went offline

It was something that she hadn't expected to deal with when she came to Earth, but the older she got, the more she was affected by it

Not even just guys who casually asked for hugs without knowing her either, but the ones who touched her without asking

She never had figured out a way to let herself get out of those situations, atleast most of the time she was near someone who could help

But she knew she needed to start learning how to get out of those things herself

"Hey Kara! It's been a wile, how are you?"

The blonde looked over at the man in front of her, blinking in confusion

She couldn't recall meeting him before, but she knew that if he knew who she was he must have met her at some point...

After all, she was visiting Clark at the Daily Planet in Metropolis, it wasn't that he was likely to have just heard her name through the grape vine or anything

"Hey... you!" she attempted, hoping that would be good enough recognition without really believing that it would be

"It's me, Kevin, you know? Kevin Porter?"

"O-Oh right, right, um.. Kevin, it's been a long time,"

She still didn't really remember him, only vaguely, but she remembered getting a breif tour the last time she had come to visit her cousin so she probably had, in fact, met him before

"Yeah it really has, I think the last time I saw you you were just fresh into adulthood right? Just barely started at Cat Co?"

"Um... yeah, yeah I think so,"

She vaguely remembered that being the last time she had come to the Daily Planet to get Cat Co related advice from her cousin...

"It's been ages! How about I get a hug huh?"

"Umm..."

She didn't even remember this guy, to say that she wasn't comfortable just leaning over and hugging him was putting it pretty mildly

"Actually Kara and I are late for lunch, but I'll give you a hug when I get back,"

Releif poured over her like a wave as she turned around and smiled at Clark

Good ol' Clark Kent, coming to the rescue at the perfect moment every single time...

"I'll see you later Kevin," he added, taking Kara by the hand to gently pull her out of the office, wich saved her the greif of an awkward goodbye to boot

"I'm really sorry about him, he doesn't get 'boundaries', are you ok?" Clark asked worriedly

"I'm fine, thanks to you, really I .. I'm ok,"

Clark stared at her with a breif moment of concern, as if he was trying to assess her honesty, before giving her a smile and stopping mid-step to give her a tight hug of his own- wich Kara was **_completely_** ok with

Clark gave the absolute **best** hugs and she always missed them whenever she was in National City

"Other than that uncomfortable encounter, how have you been? You doing alright today?"

"Yeah, absolutely, I'm.. I'm good, I promise, where are you taking me to lunch?"

Clark gave a bright, sunshine smile, keeping an arm around her as he walked with her towards the exit of the building and fell into an easy, casual conversation

Although she fell into it too, easily bypassing the discomfort of her encounter and concentrating instead on her time with her cousin, she couldn't help keeping in the back of her mind that she needed to do better than this

There wouldn't always be people around to help her- and in fact, there already were times when she was on her own and confronted with these... _situations_....

She needed to learn to deal with it on her own, plain and simple

 

**III.**

Ofcourse, the problem with THAT is that Kara is two different people, kind of, technically

Two years later when she finally starts coming to terms with being able to get out of something that makes her uncomfortable as _Kara_ , she's suddenly faced with the fact that she has no idea how to navigate this situation as _Supergirl_

Because Supergirl...

Supergirl isn't Kara

Kara can make excuses, Kara can avoid people, Kara can find someone she feels safe with and grab onto their hand or make eye contact to silently ask for help, but Supergirl....

Supergirl is strong, Supergirl is independent, Supergirl is fearless, Supergirl loves everyone and is never uncomfortable being around people except...

Except that she is

Just because she's a superhero it doesn't mean she isn't a person anymore

Just because she loves people and wants to protect them it doesn't mean that she's ok with feeling pushed to have her personal space violated

Just because she has no problem willingly giving hugs to people it doesn't mean that she likes feeling cornered or forced to

Physical contact should always be of someone's own volition, not because they're pressured into it

But as Supergirl, someone who's always going around hugging people when the situation calls for it, she doesn't know if there's a right way to decline...

And the first time she's put in that position, she's utterly unsure of how to react

She had just finished fighting off an escapee from DEO detainment who had come to attack L Corp and was on her way to join Alex and the other agents in escorting him back to the for questioning when she heard her name called out, turning and seeing a man in a suit- apparently one of the higher ranking officials at L Corp- walking towards her

"Supergirl! I've been wanting to meet you in person, I'm Martin Shumer with L Corp, it's such a pleasure to meet you!"

"Well thank you Martin, it's a pleasure to meet you too, but I really should be getting going, work to do you know?" she replied with a polite smile

It wasn't that she was so unwilling to stay and talk, but she didn't want to be further behind than she needed to be from the DEO, they needed to figure out how the escape happened and seal up in cracks in their system before another one broke out

"Oh sure, sure, I understand, can I get a hug first?"

"Ah..."

Even as Supergirl, she never had quite gotten comfortable with random guys asking for hugs- especially when she made it clear that she was trying to leave

Kids were one thing, she never minded with kids, but adults were a little on the greyer side of the scale, especially when, again, she was trying to leave...

"Supergirl!! Come quick!!"

Luckily, the sound of Lena's voice broke through her fog of hesitation and she was able to give a quick "I have to go!" before flying off towards Lena, who was standing on the other side of the lobby

"What is it? What's wrong?" she asked quickly as Lena suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her around the corner

"Martin is wrong," she said with a small smirk

Kara couldn't help but let a huge grin spread across her face, holding onto Lena's hand just a little bit tighter as she leaned against the wall behind her

"Thank you..."

"Ofcourse, women have to stick together right? Alien, superhero, it doesn't matter, if we don't help eachother no one else will, and I know Martin, he's not what I'd call 'sensitive' to personal space, but with the amount of stocks he owns I can't do much about it right now,"

"No no I get it, I do, I just... still, thanks,"

"Ofcourse," Lena repeated, a soft smile tugged onto her own lips as she locked eyes with Kara

The Kryptonian's heart pounded a little harder, a little faster, not moving or speaking right away, just... just settled

Just absorbing the moment that she and Lena were sharing alone...

Atleast until Alex's voice burst into the speaker in her ear

_"Supergirl! Supergirl where are you?"_

"Um.. sorry, I ... really do have to go though, the um... the DEO needs me..."

"Go, I'll see you later," Lena replied softly

Kara just gave a tiny, somewhat shy nod, bursting out of the nearest window and flying back to headquarters with a red face and a pounding heart

And luckily, it had absolutely nothing to do with Martin

 

**I.**

So Supergirl still needed a little help trying to navigate social discomfort, she would learn

After all, Kara had

It may have taken years and years for her to accomplish that, but she finally seemed to have gotten the hang of it

"Kara? Kara Danvers?"

Turning towards the stranger's voice, she found herself staring a man who looked... kind of familiar...

"It's me, Norman! You know, Norman McDermot from highschool?"

"Oh!! Norman, hey, it's nice to see you again,"

She did vaguely remember him, they had gone to highschool together and even shared a couple of classes but they had never been close by any means, only really had a few conversations with eachother over the entirety of their highschool lives, she was pretty surprised that he had even remembered her, in fact

"Hey, how are you?" he greeted back

"I'm doing pretty well, you?" she asked, adjusting her bag over her shoulder as she spoke

She was here to meet Lena but seeing that she wasn't here yet, Kara supposed there was really nothing wrong with staying to talk for a second

"Oh I'm doing great, I'm a manager at Lukas Optical now,"

"Really? Oh that's amazing,"

The conversation went on like this for a little wile, small talk, mostly bouncing from topic to topic every few sentences, and they had talked for a good five or six minutes by the time Kara finally decided to go ahead and get a table, figuring Lena would be there soon

"Anyway, I really should get going now, I'm meeting my girlfreind for dinner so..."

"Oh yeah I understand, I mean, I'm just here by myself, but can I have a hug first?"

Kara still didn't know this guy well, and honestly she just didn't feel comfortable with it

So she simply made an excuse- a true one even- to prevent herself from having to deal with it

"Actually my girlfreind is waiting on me, I really do need to get going,"

And before he had a chance to ask again, she immediately made her way over to the hostess and asked for the table reserved under Luthor

It was five more minutes before Lena showed up, but there was no reason for Norman to know that

"Hey, sorry I'm late,"

"It's ok, no worries," Kara beamed, leaning up as Lena stepped towards the table and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips before sitting down opposite the Kryptonian

"Were you ok here alone?"

And, with complete honesty under her belt, Kara smiled and nodded

"Yeah, I did just fine on my own,"


End file.
